Old Haileybury flex their experience, Hawks show class: Div 3 Women’s Round 2 in review

Old Haileybury 7.15.57 def Fitzroy 3.2.20

Old Haileybury got off to a great start however, plagued by inaccuracy, were unable to take advantage. Despite this, Fitzroy were also unable to hit the scoreboard in the first term, until they found their rhythm in the second and third, where Fitzroy were right in the game before the more experienced Old Haileybury kicked away in the last sealing the win.

Old Haileybury coach David Lappage was impressed with his team. “(They) were great from the first bounce. Their tackle pressure was incredible.” As well as being impressed by a few individual efforts. “Our best was Claudia Irving in the centre, Zahra Clavarino on the ruck, Shalyn Phillips and Jas Bettess led from the front. Gypsy Fowell… moved from being a defender last year and kicked four.”

Lappage did make note of his side’s inaccuracy and that they may not have played Fitzroy’s best side. “Fitzroy smashed their opponents last week; there were only a couple of girls in that team that played against us.”

Fitzroy coach Liz Olney once again had a plethora of debutants, with eight players debuting against Old Haileybury. However, she noted that Old Haileybury are a senior team which is something her thirds girls aren’t used to.

Olney was impressed by her side’s resilience. “(I was) proud of the girls for playing Fitzroy football and not getting frustrated at the way the game was going,” she said. “Tackling intensity increased in the second half, and defensive pressure led to Haileybury taking shots from difficult angles.”

Hawthorn 15.11.101 def Albert Park 1.2.6

Hawthorn showed they are the team to beat this year as they won commandingly against Albert Park. The Hawks piled on eight goals to none in the first half. The Falcons only managed one point for the first three quarters before Amy Smyth kicked their lone goal for the match. The Hawks had three main contributors with Molly Goldsworthy kicking four, Tessa Bodin kicking three and Emily Truscott kicking a bag of five.

“Every player contributed to the win,” Hawks coach Aaron Miller said. “Our tackling pressure exerted on Albert Park was relentless. Emily Truscott was outstanding kicking five goals, their best-ever haul, as was Charlotte Miller playing across half back.”

Miller also lauded the spirit of which the game was played in from both sides on what was such a special occasion.

Albert Park coach Anthony De Jong looked at the loss constructively. “With a combination of new and returning players, we tried different things to no avail. We didn’t give up and the effort and endeavour were really good throughout the match.”

De Jong said: “a highlight was seeing Amy (Smyth) kick a goal after a really strong preseason. We took lots out of the game and will look to improve for next week.”

The Hawks will look to continue their winning ways when they face Brunswick this week, while the Falcons come up against Mazenod who are also coming off a tough loss.

De La Salle 7.14.56 def Mazenod 0.2.2

In front of a big crowd at Central Reserve, it was De La Salle who got away to a hot start against Mazenod. Coming off a big win last week, De La Salle picked up right where they left off last match kicking two goals to none in the first. Unfortunately for Mazenod, the narrative of  the game didn’t deviate much after the first, with De La Salle running away 54-point victors while Mazenod were unable to kick a major for the game.

“It was a good, hard contested game of footy,” Mazenod coach Matt Foale said.

“However, despite our best efforts. De La Salle was just too skilled and too quick for us. They were able to convert their stoppage dominance into scoring opportunities and ran away comfortable winners.”

However, there were some positives for Mazenod as Foale stated “Kat (Pseftoudis) had a great game for us and was well supported by Steph (Smith) on the wing and Alicia (Basham) off half back.”

Brunswick v Port Melbourne

Port Melbourne forfeited seeing Brunswick take the four points.